‘Hurdles remain in Gulf crisis thaw’

‘Hajraf has historical task on his hands’

“THE Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states on Dec 10, 2019 held their 40th summit in the Saudi capital, Al-Riyadh,” columnist Dahem Al-Qahtani wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“This summit of special significance was held at the Arab Gulf heads of state level – the third summit that was attended by all member states including the State of Qatar since the eruption of the Gulf crisis in June 2017 – and this emphasizes that the Gulf Cooperation Council, has succeeded in going beyond this crisis that was on the verge of subverting this council were not for the extraordinary efforts exerted by the State of Kuwait under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad.

“The State of Qatar was represented at the summit by Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani – the summit that handled the effects of the Gulf crisis in light of the outcomes that had been set up by the Saudi-Qatari negotiations committee which repeatedly met during the past two months under Kuwaiti mediation.

“In the meantime, I think the participation of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Bahraini football team in the Arabian Gulf Cup championship that was organized by the State of Qatar this month was a significant indication of the success of the Kuwaiti mediation to ease the differences particularly since we know that these states, had initially declared that they will not participate in the tournament.

“However, the Riyadh summit was not expected to look into all the aspects of the Gulf crisis and associations and this was evident through the non-participation of the Amir of Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad. But it is needless to say that many steps will be taken following this summit to establish the reciprocal confidence among the relevant parties that will be represented by the reopening of the borders between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Bahrain on one hand and the State of Qatar on the other and eventually nullify the decision preventing the citizens of the three states from travelling to Qatar.

“Likewise, we expect the next few days to witness a change in the media policy followed by the news channels and websites financed by the State of Qatar topped by Al-Jazeera news channel towards the three states.

“But the question here is, does this mean that the Gulf crisis has ended? The answer is ‘No’ because there are some issues that shall remain suspended for a long time. Likewise, we expect the Qatari-UAE relations to remain unchanged. In spite of the above, certainly the crisis continues but far away from tensions and the congestion ease.

“Meanwhile, we say the Al-Riyadh summit has witnessed the change of the GCC secretary general and the former Kuwaiti minister of finance Dr. Nayef AlHajraf has taken over this post. This change has come at an appropriate time, because the current relations among the GCC member states, require that the secretary-general should belong to a state like the State of Kuwait, because the country is an acceptable mediator in the region and the great powers recognize the feasibility of the Kuwaiti mediation.

“Such being the case, we hope Dr. Al-Hajraf, shall set up new concepts to revive the GCC objectives because Al-Hajraf in his new post enjoys a lot of opportunities for effecting radical reforms in the structure of the Gulf action where the rooting of the GCC’s idea on popular level will be at the top of these reforms and this can be realized through founding a Gulf parliament similar to the European parliament.

“It is needless to say we are living in a very dangerous region, since we are surrounded by many states some of which have overtly declared enmity against us, while others still shelter under political addresses, but in fact they are preparing to dominate the GCC members and their wealth. In other words, these states are looking forward to seize the opportunity which lies in the weaknesses and the conflicts among the GCC nations.

“Given the above, the task of Nayef Al-Hajraf, will be historical and we hope he will be the inspiring personality to upgrade the Gulf work and take it to an unprecedented political and popular levels simultaneously, particularly since we know thousands of the Gulf political, civil and effective personalities are looking forward to actually participate to transform this entity and take all of us into a new realm in this part of the world away from the greediness of the other states.”

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Al-Qahtani

“Yesterday the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states emphasized the importance of the military and security integration among them to encounter the challenges currently facing the region stressing that any aggression on any of the member states will be deemed as an aggression on all GCC member states,” columnist Abdurrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“This was actually the first item on the agenda of the Al-Riyadh summit which concluded its work yesterday. It is needless to say this item was the most important in view of its text which is self explanatory.

“In other words based on this item, the GCC member states will not allow any party to attack any of these members by exploiting the differences among them.

“As a matter of fact, the blessed march of the GCC member states was smooth during the past decade and confirms the deep rooted stances and steps – an example to be followed by the various states throughout the world.

“In this context, we say the permanent concern of the GCC leaders towards fortifying against the imminent dangers which currently threaten the region and negatively affect the sovereignty and the independence of these states, shall remain the most sublime and important objective for the GCC leaders, because the security of the Gulf is indivisible and protecting the stability of the member states shall serve the interest of the entire region and this means the GCC member states along with the international community will not allow any party to intervene in the internal affairs of the ‘Gulf House’.

“Hence, the GCC has once again confirmed that the member states is not an easy target for any party who may harbor ill for this part of the world, because the Gulf mentality is able to diagnose the dangers and set up necessary solutions that shall keep abreast with the political and economic situations, as such – God willing – no hand will be able to manipulate the security of the Gulf region.”

“We are witnessing during this period the development taking place within the economic activity and the desired expansion, the desire of the state to attract and settle foreign investment and support internal investment and upgrading it, and to find constructive ways to do so, and to overcome the obstacles facing the investment,” Ahmad Raja’a Al-Shammari wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“The most important of this is the length of litigation in solving problems and relations between the parties – the litigation, as a result of the formalities that lead, in turn, to the prolongation of litigation, and the state becomes obliged to find ways to solve that dilemma, without prejudice to the legality of disputes, whether internally or externally at the regional or global level.

“Here, a glimmer of hope appeared in the arbitration law, to which the rules were laid down to ensure the safety of the contractors’ consent, as they were included in the texts of legislations, and that the law recognized the provisions of the arbitrators, according to specific rules and regulations, and among these legislations was related to optional arbitration and judicial arbitration.

“Law No. 11 of 1995 was issued regarding judicial arbitration in civil and commercial articles, and disputes concerning the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, formed pursuant to this law which are limited to:

“Settlement of disputes that the stakeholders agree to submit to it, and it is also concerned with settling disputes arising from contracts concluded after the implementation of this law, and includes resolving these disputes by way of arbitration unless stipulated in the contract or in a system for arbitration otherwise.

“Settling disputes that arise between ministries or government agencies or public legal persons, and between companies that the state owns its capital in full or between these companies and;

“Deciding on arbitration requests submitted by “private” individuals or legal persons against ministries, government agencies, or “public” legal persons, in disputes between them and these parties are obliged to arbitrate unless the dispute has already been brought before the judiciary.”

“Today, all eyes of the people of the Gulf are focused on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is hosting the 40th summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, amid great hopes that this summit will be a summit of goodness, reconciliation, unity and integration between them, specifically between the countries of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on the one hand and Qatar on the other hand,” columnist AbdulRahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“Personally speaking, for me, it is the top of the pyramid of hope in our time so that our blessed system succeeds in overcoming the challenges surrounding us to reach the safe shores.

“The summit that Riyadh will witness today is ‘a summit of cooperation, not a variation’, and a ‘summit of harmony, not disunity’ and the path leading to union and integration.

“Over the past 4 decades, the Gulf Cooperation Council has managed to overcome all tribulations that it was exposed to and today it is more appreciative of its determination, wisdom and foresight of its leaders to overcome the current dispute.

“Just as the idea of the cooperation council originated from Kuwait, the brainchild of the late Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad, we hope that Kuwait this time, in Riyadh under the leadership of HH the Amir of Humanity will help restore the joy to the peoples of the Gulf with news that makes their hearts happy.”

“The government has been tagging parliamentary questions as “unconstitutional” in a bid to avoid responding to them or part of them, especially when such questions are related to public freedom and liberty, or preservation of individual privacy rights, or information concerning security institutions,” Abdulmohsen Jumaa wrote for Aljarida daily.

“Recently, Ministry of Interior claimed it cannot respond to the parliamentary question sent by MP Shuaib Al-Muwaiziri regarding the purchase of listening devices, or rather eavesdropping devices. The ministry claimed such question is “unconstitutional”. Of course the government, for its response, relies on the explanatory document No. 3/2004 of the Constitutional Court issued on April 11, 2005 regarding the interpretation of article 99 of the Constitution.

“The aforementioned article regulates the parliamentary question, one of which stipulates that the question should not be ‘prejudice or harmful to the supreme interest of the country’, in the manner that will render it in a position to divulge secrets – military or security – given that the consideration of the public interest is above all considerations.

“Certainly, this text is one of the vague clauses that security institutions use to avoid parliamentary oversight on its affairs, even though they are among the most sensitive state institutions, especially for a country that has experienced invasion and occupation. However, the same institutions have had their fair share of major corruption scandals, such as the Ministry of Interior’s hospitality scandal, and the Ministry of Defense’s army fund scandal.

“Therefore, it is possible to return to the Constitutional Court again in this regard, because the answer to a question pertaining to listening devices cannot be harmful to the supreme interest of the country. The question could have been answered secretly, and the answer would end up in the files of the General Secretariat of the National Assembly, as seen previously.”

“The call made by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah to urge citizens with proven cases of corruption not to hesitate in reporting them at Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority and to guarantee government protection for the informants, has been received with positive reaction from citizens,” Saud Al-Samaka wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“People have started presenting documents to Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority, and the concerned authorities have been making the right moves in that regard by setting action in motion available files of forgers and corrupt practices.

“In contrast, there is an opposing move against shedding light on corrupt activities within the state circle. Messages are being sent to discourage people from exerting efforts to detect sources of corruption and exposing corrupt officials by claiming that the move is just a mere cosmetic action. This will give people an impression that the state is not serious about detecting corrupt activities and does not have any intention to expose corrupt officials!

“Unfortunately, such type of development can be used by those suffering from enormous hatred and with high level of sadistic tendency and whose hormones despise hearing any talks related to reform.

“People in that category will begin their search and fabricate lies with which they fill the social media platforms. There is no point listening to such people, because they do not wish well for the country.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb